Guardian and Observer charity appeal 2021: support the fight for climate justice
Four charities selected this year all help protect the rights of marginalised people most affected by the climate crisis
Climate justice is the theme of the Guardian and Observer’s 2021 charity appeal. We are supporting four charities that fight to protect the rights and livelihoods of communities hit by extreme weather events caused by the climate emergency.
Practical Action
Big change starts small is Practical Action’s approach to tackling the impact of the climate emergency and environmental degradation. As its name suggests, this UK-based charity specialises in hands-on, pragmatic ways of helping communities adapt to the challenge of extreme weather.
It works with people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to develop ingenious, lasting and locally owned solutions for those whose lives and livelihoods have been devastated by the climate crisis, helping to increase resilience through climate-smart, regenerative agriculture, waste management and access to clean energy.
These solutions include introducing technology and mobilising communities to help local volunteers provide early warning of imminent flooding; providing irrigation and tree-planting to repair damage to forest and pastureland, and helping farmers adapt to the changing climate by supplying climate-resilient seeds and developing new practices.
Practical Action was established in 1966, after an article was published in the Observer by the radical green economist EF Schumacher (of Small Is Beautiful fame). He argued that economic development should be based around the holistic needs, skills and resources of local communities.
“Our work remains grounded in the realities of people living in poverty, who face even more challenges from the devastating impacts of climate change, even though they have been the lowest contributors to the problem. We support communities so that they can thrive, rather than just survive. And we work with governments and businesses to ensure these changes are sustained and scaled,” said Sarah Roberts, chief executive of Practical Action.
Environmental Justice Foundation
At the core of Environmental Justice Foundation’s mission is the belief that the climate crisis is a human rights concern, and that protecting the natural world is not just a question of “quality of life” but, for too many people, a matter of life and death.
The UK-based charity has pioneered campaigning for climate refugees, giving voice to some of the planet’s most vulnerable people, and working to secure legal protection for communities for whom the climate crisis has destroyed their homes and livelihoods.
Its investigative films and reports have highlighted a range of climate injustices and prompted local policy changes in areas from defending marine environments and tackling illegal fishing, to uncovering the ruinous impact of rising global demand for soy, palm oil and beef.
“Whether working with local peoples to raise the alarm over destructive wildfires and illegal logging in Brazil; empowering coastal communities to rid their waters of illegal fishing in Liberia; or telling the stories of those who have lost their homes to the climate crisis in Bangladesh, our goal is the same: we take local fights for environmental justice and make them global; reaching the centre of governments and business, to drive action for people and planet,” said Steve Trent, its chief executive.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Indian Ocean island of Madagascar is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, famed for its natural wonders and yet facing acute challenges. Its unique plants, animals and fungi, and the 28 million people who live there, are increasingly threatened by drought and wildfires, famine and deforestation, driven by the climate crisis.
Madagascar’s plight was highlighted at the recent Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow, which heard how climate-induced famine in the south of the island had forced people to move west and north, putting natural resources there under strain.
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew), a UK-based science and conservation charity known for its famous gardens in south-west London, is helping tackle this. It has had a large research presence on the island for nearly 40 years, and is at the forefront of initiatives there and globally to catalogue, understand and protect biodiversity.
With many Malagasy people dependent on natural resources such as rosewood, yams, rice and vanilla for their livelihoods, the Kew Madagascar Conservation Centre has been working with local communities to develop resilient agricultural systems, restore denuded land, and protect the island’s abundant biodiversity.
“Using our unique expertise in halting biodiversity loss and protecting precious habitats in Madagascar, we will use funding from the Guardian and Observer appeal to support and enhance the benefits of biodiversity to rural people, through projects planned and delivered in partnership with local communities,” said Paul Wilkin, head of ecosystem stewardship at RBG Kew. “We believe these projects have the potential to transform lives whilst protecting the country’s precious diversity.”
Global Greengrants Fund UK
The approach successfully championed by Global Greengrants Fund UK is to help people and communities at the sharp end of the climate crisis to find their own solutions to the challenges of extreme weather and environmental degradation.
Using its share of donations to this year’s Guardian and Observer appeal, Global Greengrants Fund UK will work in collaboration with the US-based non-profit CLIMA Fund to identify and award financial micro-grants to grassroots climate projects across Africa, Asia and South America.
These will include projects that develop community-led resilience to climate impacts, protect the human rights of indigenous groups, address climate injustice and promote environmental initiatives, including water capture, tree-planting and the sustainable methods of agriculture.
Global Greengrants Fund UK was a partner in the Guardian and Observer 2019 charitable appeal, when it regranted its £250,000 share of donations to support local rainforest protection groups in the Amazon basin.
“Answers to the climate crisis exist. They are led by those who are most impacted by but least responsible for climate change: Indigenous peoples, women, youth, and rural communities. Together with our partners in the CLIMA Fund and our donors we are supporting these forces for change to protect our shared planet and call for climate justice,” said Eva Rehse, the UK executive director of Global Greengrants Fund.
